


Strange Love

by viczilla



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Anxiety, Fem! Jack, GTA! au, M/M, Mild Blood, No main character deaths, Swearing, i will tag more as i go along, people die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-04-23 22:15:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4894348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viczilla/pseuds/viczilla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Fake AH Crew is running Los Santos. There is no doubt, however, that sometimes they could get into a bit of trouble. Geoff, in the hopes of getting rid of any rough patches, hires a new member. This goes over, well, not so great.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I'm going to try something new here, and I'm going to try to make a multi-chapter fic. Updates will be sporadic but I will attempt to get at least one out every week, maybe more depending on how busy I am.  
> Let's see how this one goes :)  
> (For the first chapter or so it's going to be world/character building)  
> (Also, I'm using the songs "Strange Love" "Castle" and "Control" all by Halsey as inspiration.)

Chapter One:

Ray breathed out slowly, finger tensing on the trigger of his sniper rifle. He watched his target closely through the scope, waiting impatiently for the go ahead from Geoff.

“The target is in position. Brownman, take your shot.”

“You got it, Boss.”

Ray quickly aimed, hesitating for a brief second to triple check everything was lined up before firing the shot.

“Target down. Vav, collect the briefcase. Mogar, Brownman, provide covering fire for him. Once it’s collected, head back to the meetup location.”

He watched as Gavin scampered out into the street, rushing over to the body that had been carrying a briefcase moments before. Gavin quickly collected said briefcase, running back to where Jack was waiting with the chopper.

“I’ve got the briefcase.” Gavin’s voice cut through the com system, sounding breathless.

Ray picked off a few cops that were getting a little too close for comfort, watching Michael run from his position to his car that was waiting in an alley just off of the main road.

“Jesus Christ, Vav, you ran like 20 yards! How are you that much out of shape?!” Ray chuckled as Jack’s voice cut through, clearly starting up her chopper. “Mogar, I’ll meet you in the alley.” Ray stated, quickly packing up his sniper ducking over to the.

As he hopped down to the ground, a chrome adder came rushing into the alley, squealing to a stop just before Ray.

“Dude, would you please stop trying to run me over?”

“Pattillo and Vav are free of the cops, and on our way to the meetup point.”

Michael just chuckled and drove off as soon as Ray had shut the door. With Ray’s shooting and Michael’s fast car, the pair quickly lost the cops. They quickly got back to regular roads and sped off towards Mount Chiliad where Jack and Gavin were waiting with the chopper to take them back to their safe house.

“Mogar and Brownman are en route to the meetup point, no cops in sight.”

“Well, guys, I do believe that this heist is officially over. That’s another successful heist for the books.” Geoff’s voice came in, quickly followed by the loud whoops of the crew as the celebrated.

*****

Ray raised up his hand, easily catching the wad of paper Geoff tossed at him.  He unraveled it and nodded, seeing his take from the heist had been spread to his various bank accounts. He glanced up at Geoff, who was studying the papers that were in the briefcase they had retrieved on the last part of their heist.

“Hey Geoff?” Ray asked, and his boss glanced up from the paper he was reading for a split second before going back to it.

“Hmm?” Geoff hummed in response.

“What’s in the briefcase?”The rest of the crew looked over, going quiet as they waited for Geoff’s response.

“Information.” Geoff said, then glanced up as everyone in the crew looked at him expectantly, waiting for his explanation. He sighed slightly, setting down the paper he was looking at. He paused, presumably looking for the words on how to say what he wanted to say.

“On…?” Ray prompted after a few moments of silence.

“On our new crew member.” Geoff said after a little while “Wait, what?” Gavin squawked, walking over to the table to look at the papers Geoff had laid out. “Why are we getting a new crew mate?

“We really need another person down on the field. Ray can help snipe, but only as long as he can see. Jack is our transport. Michael and I are pretty good at doing the ground stuff, but we can’t really do everything perfectly. And you, well, after you almost _killed_ yourself today, I’m not really too keen on having you on the ground anytime soon.”

“I didn’t almost die.” Gavin complained, and Geoff rose an eyebrow at him. “I didn’t!” He squawked out, and Geoff just shook his head at him.

“Anyways, this guy, well, I knew him in the beginning, before the crew. We worked together on a few jobs, even.  He’s a good guy. Plus, he’s a good shot. I mean, not as good as Ray, but he’s up there.”

“Damn straight he’s not as good as me. I’m the fuckin’ best.” Ray mumbled, making Geoff laugh.

“Does the guy not have a name, or are you being purposefully elusive?” Michael spoke up from the couch.

“Vagabond.”

“Are you joking?” Michael said, staring at Geoff. “Do you mean THE Vagabond? Like the ‘I-can-kill-everyone-in-this-room-in-under-a-minute-yes-I-know-there-are-over-fifty-people-in-this-roon’ Vagabond? That one?”

Geoff nodded. “So you know him.”

“Doesn’t everybody? The guy’s fucking insane.” Michael yelled, shaking his head in disbelief.

 “Well, I mean, that’s something I look for in a crew mate,” Ray said, shrugging as the crew turned to look at him. “You know. Insanity.”

Gavin was about to say something, but was interrupted by a knock on the door to the penthouse. He gave Geoff a quizzical look, look, who in return grinned and walked over to the door, the rest of the crew following him.

Geoff swung open the door to reveal a tall figure, partially covered by Geoff’s form, and the lack of light in the hallway made it near impossible to see much of anything that Geoff wasn’t blocking.

“Hey, man. Thanks for coming. Here, come in.” Geoff said, and shifted so the anonymous figure could walk into the penthouse.

The newcomer nodded to Geoff before staring silently at the crew who were all standing, staring at him. He wore a black leather jacket, jeans, and most importantly, a black skull mask that covered everything but his eyes, which had what looked like black face paint circling them.

Ray was the first to break the silence, and the staring contest the stranger seemed to be having with everyone but Geoff. “Right, I bet this is probably Vagabond, then?” He asked, and Vagabonds eyes darted over to him.

Geoff seemed to be spurred into motion by Ray’s question, “Yep. Everyone, this is my old acquaintance Vagabond. Vagabond, this is Jack, Gavin, Michael, and Ray.”

Vagabond pulled a notebook from his jacket and began to write, pausing to look over at Gavin when he started talking.

Gavin, who had been sitting quietly, staring with his mouth open at Vagabond, squawked. “What?! Geoff, do you mean that you invited this psycho over to our _safe house?!_ Did you guys hear what Michael just said?! He could kill every one of us! What are you thinking?! You absolute-”

Gavin was interrupted by Michael nudging him in the side, pointing to the note Vagabond was holding up.

“ _If I wanted to kill you, I would’ve of already done it._ ”

Ray snickered, and Gavin turned and stared at him, opening and closing his mouth with no words, only disgruntled sounds coming out.

“Well, he’s not wrong.” Ray said, shrugging.

“Well,” Geoff spoke up, “Like I said, Vagabonds our new crew member That’s not up for discussion. Vagabond is going to stay here at the penthouse. He’ll be doing small jobs and shit to make sure he works well, and see who he works with best. From there, if everything checks out, we’ll heist.”

Gavin glared at Geoff, but he knew better than to protest.

Geoff addressed Vagabond again. “Here, I’ll show you to your room.”

Vagabond picked up his duffel bag from the floor and wandered after Geoff.

Gavin stared at them as they walked off, before stalking out the door to the garage.

Michael sighed and then turned to Jack and Ray. “I should probably go follow him. And, look. I know Geoff trusts him and that’s basically enough, but, just keep your guard up, okay?” Both of them nodded, and Michael, satisfied, walked out the door after his boyfriend.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I went in and changed parts of chapter one to fit better, so if you didn't just read it, you may want to reread it. Or don't. It's up to you. Either way, it's got some changes.  
> Second, sorry this is kinda short. These first few chapters will probably be shorter, but it should start getting a bit longer as the story actually progresses.

Chapter Two:

Ray shuffled out his room the next morning, following his nose to where Jack was standing in the kitchen, making breakfast. His stomach growled loudly, and Jack looked over to find Ray staring hungrily at the pancakes she was making.

Jack chuckled softly, shaking her head. “Ray, shut your mouth. You’re going to get drool all over my food.”

He made a big show of closing his mouth before grinning and walking away, towards the couch. He stopped suddenly, hearing the tell-tale creak that meant someone was sitting on the couch. He and Jack were always the first ones up. He saw a flash of black before he remembered. Vagabond.

He walked around the edge of the couch, grabbing a controller from the coffee table as he sat down. Vagabond looked up from his briefly, his blue eyes catching Ray’s for a second before he went back to his book.

“Are you like one of those monks that take oaths of silence?” Ray broke the silence a few minutes later.

Vagabond looked up, his head tilting slightly to the side before he reached over and grabbed the notebook from the table beside him.

“ _Do monks usually kill people?_ ” Came Vagabonds neatly written reply a few moments later.

Ray shrugged slightly. “You do have a point. Unless you’re like one the ones that sacrifice people. Which, in that case, would probably be hard to do without killing them.”

Ray saw Vagabonds shoulders shake slightly, and easily recognized it as laughter. As Vagabond leaned down slightly to write his reply, he shook his head slightly. Ray was pretty sure that Vagabond was smirking.

“ _I’m fairly certain I’ve never sacrificed anyone._ ”

Ray snorted. “Fairly certain? What do you mean _fairly_ certain?!”

“ _I mean, what my clients chose to do with the bodies after I leave is their choice. If I have it was purely coincidental._ ”

“Who knows? Maybe one of your clients was a monk, and they sacrificed the person. You’re, like, a secondhand monk.”

“What’s this about secondhand monks? You know, on second thought, never mind. I’m not sure I really want to know.” Geoff mumbled as he walked in.

Ray grinned, but his reply was cut off by Jack calling out. “Breakfast!”

“Aww, yeah.” Ray said enthusiastically, practically running over to the table where Jack was setting out plates.

Michael walked into the room, rubbing his eyes, with Gavin behind him. Gavin pursed his lips slightly when he saw Vagabond and glared slightly at Geoff, but he didn’t say anything. Which, with Gavin, is as good as it gets. He would be annoyed until he needed something, and then he’d get over it.

Everyone but Geoff and Vagabond started eating, and Geoff cleared his throat slightly to get their attention.

 “Alright. We’re starting the small jobs today, starting off with Jack. Sound good?” Geoff asked, raising his eyebrows slightly at the rest of the crew.

They made various noises of affirmation, and Geoff grinned. “Good.”

With that, he started on his food.

*****

The small jobs went by quickly over the course of the next two weeks. Gavin (as suspected) got over his anger and got used to Vagabond, though it was obvious he was still weary of him. It turned out that the pair worked surprisingly well together.

“Hey, Vagabond. You ready for this?” Ray said, flopping down onto the couch next to the older man. They were the last pair to work together before the heist.

Vagabond nodded and grabbed his notebook.

“ _Are you?_ ”

Ray shrugged. “Meh. Mostly. Kinda just want to take a nap, though.”

Vagabonds shoulders shook slightly. “ _How is that different from any other time?_ ”

“Good point.”

“You boys ready?” Geoff said walking out from the heist room.

“Yep.”

Ray raised his arm, catching the bag Geoff tossed him easily. He grabbed the com out and pushed it into his ear, then stood up. “Let’s do this.”

The pair walked out into the garage, and Ray immediately walked over to his brown car, but stopped when he noticed Vagabond wasn’t next to him. He turned around to see the man in question patiently standing next to a black Zentorno Ray didn’t even know existed.

Ray whistled appreciatively, raising an eyebrow. “This one yours?” He asked, walking over to it.

Vagabond nodded, and Ray shrugged. “I mean, it’s not brown, but I guess it’ll do.”

Vagabond shook his head at the lad and stepped into his car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Comments/Kudos are always appreciated. :)  
> Have a prompt? Leave it here, in the comments, or send me an ask on tumblr:  
> viczilla13.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating for a while. I've been super busy. This chapter should be the last (or maybe 2nd to last) chapter for all the set up stuff. Hopefully.

Most of the test jobs the crew did with Vagabond were versions of the same thing. They were all the stand-up robbery, the only change being the location and the slight spin each member put on it.

Jack was their tech man, the person who got all of their new weapons and vehicles. Their escape from the police was made rather easy in the new attack copper she had recently gotten her hands on.

Geoff, saying that he had already worked with Vagabond and therefore already knew they worked fine together, opted out of doing a job, but helped organize everyone elses.

Michael’s job hadn’t gone quite so smoothly. Everything about him was explosive; his speech, his temper, so it was only to be expected that he was the explosives guy on their crew, It wasn’t really a surprise when the duo came in smelling like C4 and the news showing that the gas station attached to the store they were robbing was blown up.

Gavin was the crew’s wildcard, for lack of a better term. He was a pretty good hacker (probably one of the best in the country, but no one in the crew was going to admit that). He acted like an idiot, sure, but people who mistook him for dumb and harmless soon realized that the lad was a pretty good shot (usually with one to the head). He, much like his boyfriend, loved the chaos of a police chase, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when he had to get his bullet riddled car repaired after his job.

Ray’s style was a lot more subtle, compared to the rest of the crew (although it’s hard to say that anyone who used a neon pink sniper rifle was subtle). Instead of going in (quite literally) guns blazing like the other lads, he’d much rather stay a safe distance away, causing problems with his sniper. It wasn’t that he was a bad shot in close combat, that point he had driven home with several quick, well aimed shots embedded in the wall very close to Gavin’s head when the lad had tried to say that he was a better shot with a pistol than Ray. It was just that, as he put it, the thought of getting shot was unappealing to him. He refused to say anything more on the matter.

Geoff understood this distaste, and the fact that Vagabond still hadn’t spoken, so their job was a bit different. Instead of a robbery, the pair were doing an assassination.

*****

Ray breathed in the smell of Vagabonds car, going through his process of emptying his mind of everything but the task at hand to limit the possibility of distraction during the job. He was interrupted by a tap on his hand. He glanced over to see Vagabond holding a piece of paper out.

“ _You ready?_ ”

Ray shrugged. “Probably.”

He watched as Vagabond leant down slightly over his paper.

“ _Probably. How reassuring._ ”

Ray let out a soft laugh.

“Just keeping it real, man.”

Vagabond shook his head slightly, the got out of his car.

Ray slid out of the car, looking across the dark street at the house their target was in. They parked behind the house on a small hill, hidden by the trees surrounding the house. He pulled his sniper from the car then closed the door softly, glancing over to Vagabond who was leaning into the trunk.

Ray walked around the car, leaning against the hood as he waited. Vagabond joined him a minute later.

“You done?” Ray asked quietly, aware of the guards surrounding the house. “Because if I have to wait any longer I might fall asleep. What were you even doing?”

Vagabond shook his head and rolled his eyes, then pulled a throwing knife out of its holster strapped around his thigh. With the amount of knives the man had strapped to him, Ray wasn’t sure how he managed to be as silent as he was.

“Knives?” Ray paused, then shrugged. “I guess I’m not really surprised. Alright, let’s get this over with.”

Ray settled himself on a large rock outcrop that faced the back of the house. Their target obviously knew that someone would come for them eventually, and tried to make the place look inconspicuous by keep the guards in the maze-like courtyard in the back. However, the several million dollar house wasn’t exactly the most subtle thing. It took Gavin about thirty seconds to find the place.

Ray waited until Vagabond was in position down at the bottom of the hill, taking the time to make sure the suppressor on his sniper was on correctly. He heard a single click come on over the coms, and glanced down to see the older man staring up at him, waiting for the signal.

Ray paused for a minute, taking in a deep breath before nodding. “Alright. Let’s get this started.”

The job went well, and the pair worked extremely well together. Ray helped navigate Vagabond though the weird maze that was the back of the house, taking out the guards he could and notifying Vagabond of the ones he couldn’t. The pair made short work of the guards outside, and Vagabond went into the house to find their target and execute them.

According to Gavin’s research, there were only four or five guards on the inside, in places tat would be easy to take them out. Ray kept a close eye on the doors, only taking his eyes off of them for a few seconds at a time so he could check around his immediate area, making sure there wasn’t anyone trying to sneak up on him.

He tensed slightly when he saw the door open, but relaxed when Vagabond stepped out. He frowned slightly when he saw the older man holding his side, but Vagabond moved with his usual confidence so Ray knew he probably wasn’t in any immediate danger.

He watched carefully as Vagabond made his way back up to the car, waiting a minute to make sure no one was following him before packing his sniper up and walking over to wear vagabond was leaning against his car.

Ray raised his eyebrows at the older man as he walked up, looking at the tear in Vagabonds jacket a few inches down from the armpit.

“What happened?” Ray asked as the older man grabbed the pile of sheathed knives of his car and put them in his trunk. Ray pulled the com out of his ear as he hopped into the car. Vagabond pulled out the notebook as he got into his car, scribbling something sown quickly before tossing it at Ray and starting up the car.

“ _There was an extra guy. He saw me as I was taking out the target. I took him out, but he managed to get a shot in before I could._ ”

Ray glanced over to the wound, which was bleeding (not too severely, but definitely still bleeding). He rolled his eyes slightly. “It’s the first job we’ve ever done together, and you’ve already gotten yourself shot. I feel like this is the universes way of warning me about what’s to come.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank's for reading!  
> Comments/Kudos are always appreciated  
> Have a prompt? Put it here, in the comments, or send it to me on my tumblr  
> viczilla13.tumblr.com


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, sorry it's been a while since I've updated. This is probably going to be the standard length of chapters from now on.

The bullet wound Vagabond had gotten was, thankfully, only a graze, and healed quickly. When the pair had arrived back at the safe house, a wordless conversation between Ray and Geoff that consisted only of raised eyebrows and nodding told the crews leader that the job had gone well, and told Ray that the heist was now in its final planning stage. While Geoff trusted everyone in his crew, he knew that they each had their talents. Ray was impeccably good at reading people, so Geoff waited for the final say from Ray to make sure everything with Vagabond checked out.

The group was settled in the heist room, waiting (for the most part patiently) for Geoff to explain the crew’s next heist. It had been two-and-a-half weeks since Vagabond had first arrived, and their last heist. Geoff had asked crew to lay low after the last heist, so besides the small job each of them had tested out with Vagabond, they had stayed out of the public eye. For some, this was easy, and for others, well, let’s just say that both Gavin and Michael had been very cranky the last two weeks.

Ray sat silently next to vagabond, the older looking over his shoulder as he played on his DS. He glanced at the clearing of a throat to see Geoff walking into the room. He shut his DS with a snap and stretched.

“Alright. Let’s get this started. We’re going to be hitting three places in this one, so listen up. Firstly, Gavin and Michael, you’re team one with Jack. Ray, Vagabond, you’re team two, with me. We’ll hit the first two locations separately, then join up for the third place. Sound good?” Geoff paused, and the crew made various noises of affirmation. “Okay. Let’s go over locations.”

The crew went over the heist for the next hour or so, helping to work out any bugs that Geoff had managed to miss. Once they went over it several times, making it as fool proof as possible, they went off to start preparing and getting all their equipment together. Michael, Gavin, and Geoff went to Ammunation to stock up on ammo and sticky bombs, Jack went to her room to call people about the vehicle they would need, and Vagabond went….somewhere. Presumably to stock up for the next heist, but other than that Ray wasn’t quite sure.

Ray, on the other hand, didn’t really know what to do. He had all of the ammo he could ever need for his sniper and pistol, the only two guns he would be using in the next heist. They would be taking Vagabond’s car, so he didn’t have to deal with that. He was used to not having much setup, but usually he at least had some. This time, however, he had none. He went through his regular process of cleaning his sniper and making sure all of the parts were in working order, then grabbed it from his room along with his keys.

He wrote a short note to tell the rest of the crew where he was going, even though they all knew by now. It was tradition for the sniper to go and spend the night alone in his own private house, away from the rest of the crew. None of them really understood it, but as long as Ray was where they needed him when they needed him, they didn’t really bother him about it. He placed the note on the counter, then walked out the door, heading down to the garage to his own car.

He drove quickly to his small safe house in the suburbs on the edge of Los Santos. He walked in, quickly checking over the house for anyone who might be waiting for him, and then relaxed when he found none. He set his sniper inside his bedroom, then walked back out into his living room where he settled down on the couch. He took in a few deep breaths, calming down his mind.

Ray didn’t dislike the crew, in fact they were basically his family. However, sometimes, the just got a little overbearing. The night before the heist was always hectic as the rest of the crew scrambled around, trying to get everything ready for the heist the next day. Ray was always nervous before heists, no matter how simple. He had dealt with anxiety his entire life, so being nervous wasn’t anything he couldn’t deal with. However, being around the crew would sometimes set off his anxiety. He could deal with it any other time, except for the time right before a heist. In order to be able to skip having to deal with a panic attack and just ignore the better part of it, he decided to just not spend the day before the heist at the safe-house, and instead spend it by himself at his house, playing games and going over his part of the job.

He grabbed the controller from the table in front of him and started up his Xbox, going through his mental list of games as he waited for it to load. He decided on Destiny, and had started loading the game when he heard a knock on his door.

He stopped moving, using his primary tactic of “maybe if I don’t address the situation it will go away” by staying silent for a full minute. He groaned when the knocking only got more persistent and stood up, making his way to his door.

“What do you want?” Ray said irritably, opening his door and glaring at the person standing on his doorstep. His face went from anger to confusion as he saw Vagabond standing on his porch, a box of pizza in his hand. “Um. What?” He said dumbly, then paused as he saw Vagabond start fidgeting with the pizza, clearly wanting to set it down to grab his notebook, but not wanting to set it on the ground. “Here, come in.”

Ray opened the door wider and stepped to the side, letting the older man walk into his home. “That pizza better be for me, or I just let you in for nothing.” He stated, pointing at the table to show where the pizza in question could be set down.

Ray waited for Vagabond to scribble out an explanation, passing the time by inspecting the pizza.

He glanced up from where he was practically drooling over the pizza when Vagabond nudged him, holding out a note.

“ _The penthouse was really loud, and the police are staking out my apartment. The pizza is my attempt to bribe you to allow me to stay here tonight._ ”

Ray rose an eyebrow as he read. “Why are the police staking your apartment? How did they find it? And how did you find me?”

“ _I don’t really know how they found it, but I feel like why has a pretty obvious answer. Oh, and I asked Gavin to track you.”_

Ray shook his head. “Fair play, I guess. But you asked Gavin to find my safe house? I don’t think that even Gavin would do that out of the kindness of his heart.”

“ _Well, there may have been a little bit of threatening involved. Just a little bit, though._ ”

“Alright, then. Well, usually I would say no, but I doubt that you’re really going to be making that much noise, and you did buy me pizza…so I guess you can stay here.”

Vagabond raised his arm in celebration, and Ray shook his head, smiling. “Whatever man. You have to help me get some of the co-op achievements I’m missing, though.”

“ _Deal._ ”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Sorry about the random updates, I've been busy and haven't had a whole lot of time to write. Hope you enjoyed!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, another chapter! I hope you guys enjoy this!

“Aww, yeah! Another win for me!” Ray called out, setting his controller down gently before throwing his arms up in the air in celebration as he turned to face Vagabond, who was simply shaking his head. Vagabond set his controller down next to Ray’s on the coffee table, then stretched. As he did so, his shirt came up a little and showed the outline of what was probably a full set of abs, along with a stretch of very pale skin.

“Jesus Christ, Vaga. Do you not go outside?” Ray said, staring at the skin of Vagabond’s stomach that was exposed. “Jesus, you could blind someone with how pale you are, you vampire.” Ray commented, mockingly holding his hand up over his eyes as if for shade.

Vagabond shook his head again, making a big show of pulling his shirt down the half inch it had risen up, before leaning over for his notebook.

“ _Wow, you got something against vampires now? What did they ever do to you, huh?_ ”

Ray laughed, being able to sense the sarcasm practically dripping from the words, even though they weren’t said aloud. “Who knows, maybe I do. What if my parents were killed by vampires? You know my _name_ , not my _story,_ Vagabond.” Ray said, feigning anger, before laughing. “Speaking of which, you’ve never told me either about you. I feel like, because I’m sharing this amazingly wonderful abode,” Ray swept his hand in a gesture around the very messy room, “with you, I deserve at least one piece of information.” Ray was only half-joking. “For all I know you could be a _murderer_ or something.” He added on, barely getting it out before laughing at his own joke.

Vagabond shook his head, but his eye betrayed him, showing the laughter that he was holding in.

“ _What type of thing do you want to know?_ ” Vagabond wrote a few moments later.

Ray thought for a moment, then shrugged. “I don’t really know. Whatever you want, I guess. Here, you ask me a question, and I’ll ask one about you. It’ll be like twenty questions, but better. Because I’m involved, and everything is better with me involved.”

Ray was pretty sure Vagabond was going to get a cramp in his neck from the amount of times he had shook it.

Vagabond hesitated a moment, thinking about a question before writing one down.

“ _Where are you from?_ ”

“Technically, New York, but my mom is Puerto Rican. Ok, my turn. Uh. How old are you?” Ray blurted the last bit, not being able to think of another question.

“ _Really? Are you just going to run through A/S/L?_ ”

“Hey, fuck you.” Ray said, laughing. “You started it.”

“ _Fair play._ ” Vagabond shrugged. “ _32._ ”

“Jesus. You’re fucking ancient!” Ray gaped at the older man, who was rolling his eyes.

“ _Fuck you._ ”

Ray just laughed, shaking his head. “Alright, alright. Next question.”

Vagabond paused, thinking for a second before writing. “ _Why do you use a bright pink sniper rifle?_ ”

“It was the cheapest one they had. I needed something to start out, so I found the cheapest one they had and went with it. Now it’s just tradition.” Rat stated simply, shrugging. “Now, a question…” Ray trailed off, thinking. Then he grinned. “So, you wear you’re mask basically all the time, right?”

Vagabond nodded, not quite sure where the lad was headed with his question.

“Well what happens when you have, like, a cold? Do you just sneeze in the mask? Because I feel like that would be super gross.” Ray finished off his question with a mildly disgusted look on his face.

Vagabond paused, clearly at a loss for words.

“ _I think that’s the first time anyone had ever asked me that. Or the first time I’ve ever thought of it. I mean. I guess it would depend on the location. If like, I was sitting by myself, and I sneezed, I’d probably take the mask off the second I felt the sneeze coming on. I don’t know. It’s never happened._ ”

Vagabond looked so deep in thought over Ray’s question, Ray had to laugh. “Sorry, sorry. You just looked, like, really intense, and I just asked you if you sneezed in your mask.”

Vagabond shook his head, clearly smiling. “ _How come you haven’t asked any of the obvious questions? Not even just in this game, either. The entire time I’ve been at the pent house, you haven’t once asked me what my name was, what my face looks like, why I don’t talk, or anything like that. Why not?_ ”

Ray shrugged. “I mean, it’s not really any of my business why you do what you do, is it? Like, if you thought it was important, you would’ve said something about it. Clearly, it’s not, and neither of those things affect me that much, other than maybe the time it takes to say your name, or the amount of times Gavin asks me in a day why you wear the mask. So, I just let you share what you want, and what you don’t, well, it must not be that important so it doesn’t really matter.”

Vagabond looks over Ray with an unreadable expression in his eye, before seeming to decide something. He writes something down slowly, then stares at it for a minute before handing it over to Ray to read.

“ _Ryan. My name is Ryan._ ” Ray stares at the paper, unsure of why he was choosing to reveal this now. He heard a slight rustling sound, then a black skull mask was tossed into Rays lap. Ray stared at the skull mask, slowly comprehending what was happening. He looked up slowly, not quite sure what he was expecting. A gun, perhaps, pointing to his head. Or, maybe, a knife, held at the ready. Perhaps even a second skull mask on his head.

What he wasn’t expecting was to see Vaga- ( _Ryan,_ Ray corrected himself), mask less, and weapon less, looking expectantly at Ray. And holy shit the man was attractive. The crush that Ray had on the older man that had been slowly picking up speed over the last two weeks reared its head, and Ray felt his stubborn “I’m-going-to-ignore-all-crushes” attitude slip a little bit further out of reach. Or maybe a lot further.

Ray sat, staring for a few moments, his mouth opening and closing without any sound. Finally, he managed to pick his jaw up from the floor. “Uh...um… Why?” Ray managed to stumble out, half in shock from the situation, half from the fact that Ryan looked like a literal god and he was a bit flabbergasted on what to say.

Ryan’s shoulders shook, but this time Ray could see his smile, and that made the laughter so much better.

Ryan opening his mouth, and surprised Ray even more when he actually started _talking._

“Uh, hey.” Ryan’s voice was husky, probably due to the fact that it had been over a year since he had last spoken out loud. He cleared his throat, and continued. “To answer your so… _eloquently_ put question, I felt like this was the right time to show you. I’ve kind of wanted to do this for a while, but I felt like now was the right time, you know?” Ryan rambled slightly.

“I…uh…yeah.” _Wow, Ray. How articulate._ He criticized himself, before trying again. “But, why _me_?” He asked, much more coherently.

“I just felt like I could trust you. I, uh, really enjoy having you around and like, you started talking to me on day one, when everyone but Geoff ignored me, and I just…. I felt like you were the right person to show this to first.”

“Hmm.” Ray hummed, hesitating.

“What?” Ryan asked. “Do I have something on my face?” He said, only have joking.

“Nah, it’s just your face is really fucking hot, dude.” Ray stated simply, shrugging off his doubts for a minute.

“Oh. Probably not nearly as hot as yours, but okay.”

Ray rolled his eyes, and shifted closer to Ryan on the couch. “Ha. Yeah. As if. By the way, it’s my turn to ask a question.”

Ryan furrowed his brow slightly, but shrugged. “Shoot.”

“What’s your sexuality?” Ray blurted out, before he could actually think it through.

“Uh. Bisexual, I guess.” Ryan said slowly, noticing Ray’s nod of agreement that was clearly meant to show that he also was. “Now, my question.”

Ray nodded for Ryan to go on.

“How much pizza do I have to bribe you with to get you to go on a date with me?”

Ray glanced over at the empty pizza box sitting on his table, and smiled. “One. Okay, last question.”

Ryan nodded for Ray to go on, a smug smile pulling at his lips.

Ray, who had been steadily moving a little bit closer with each question, was now about an inch away from the other man’s face. “Can I kiss you?” Ray breathed out.

There was a beat of silence in which Rays heart began pounding even harder, although he wasn’t quite sure how.

Ryan nodded slightly, and Ray leaned in, meeting Ryan’s lips in a kiss. He pulled away after a minute, and Ryan reassured him that this was what he wanted he the older man leaned in, capturing Ray’s lips in another passionate kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that ending was kind of rough, but oh well. I'm having a lot of fun writing this!  
> Thank you for reading!   
> Comments/Kudos are always appreciated!  
> Have a prompt? Leave it here, in the comments, or send it over to my tumblr  
> viczilla13.tumblr.com


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my God I'm so sorry its been a month im so bad at this  
> I originally had an idea about where i wanted this to go but its been so long i don't remember anymore so im just kind of winging it  
> (the long bit thats all italicized is in the past, n case you werent sure)

Ray pressed his face further down into his pillow, trying to keep a hold on the last dregs of sleep that were attempting to leave his body. His plan was foiled, however, by the sound of the shower starting. His eyes shot open as he bolted upright, one hand going towards his night stand to grab his glasses, and the other to the pocket under the bed where he kept his pistol.

He sat silently for a minute, gun trained on the door as he tried to figure out why a. someone was in his house and b. why someone was using his shower. Suddenly, he remembered the night before, his brain having took a few minutes to catch up to what was happening.

*****

_After the pair had pulled away again, Ray simply rested his head upon Ryan’s. They sat there for a few quite moments, taking in the sound of each other’s breathing and the feeling of being so close to one another._

_After a while, Ray shifted so his head was on Ryan’s shoulder. He yawned slightly, and Ryan chuckled softly._

_“What?” Ray asked._

_“Nothing,” Ryan said, shrugging the shoulder Ray wasn’t leaning on. “It’s just, your super cute is all.”_

_“Oh.” Ray blushed. He yawned again, and glanced down to his phone, recoiling slightly when he saw it was nearly 4:30 in the morning._

_“We should probably go to bed soon,” Ray said, and Ryan nodded. “I’ve got a spare bedroom, just down the hall from mine. Here, I’ll show you.”_

_Ray stood up, grabbing at the elder’s hand to pull him up. He quickly showed Ryan where the guest bedroom was, and then the bathroom across the hall._

_“And I’ll be over here if you need anything, yeah?” Ryan nodded again, and Ray smiled. “Well, alright then. I guess I’ll see you in the morning then?”_

_“Sounds good.” Ray stated, clearing his throat. Ray smiled._

_Just as Ray turned to walk away, a hand grabbed at his wrist and pulled him back into a warm chest, and then into a warm hug. He sighed contently, wrapping his arms around Ryan’s waist. They stayed that way for a minute, before Ryan reluctantly pulled away._

_“Goodnight, Ray.”_

_“Night, Rye.”_

_*****_

Ray lowered his gun back to its hiding spot, and flopped back down on his bed, relieved that some crazy person hadn’t broken into his house to use his shower. He glanced over to his clock, and groaned when he saw that it was already 11:30. He knew he had to be back to the penthouse by 1, or Geoff would be irritated, and an irritated Geoff is not fun to heist with, to be honest.

He got up slowly, going into the private bathroom attached to his room and took a quick shower. After he got out, he pulled on some clothes, only bothering to actually look at what he had on after he was already dressed, and that was mainly to make sure that he didn’t have his shirt on backwards or anything dumb like that.

When he finally left his room, he was unsurprised to see that Ryan had already left, leaving a note on the counter.

“ _Hope you had as nice of a night as I did. Hope to repeat it again._

 _-Ryan <3_”

Ray laughed, shaking his head. “Wow, Ryan, you’re such a cheesy fuck.” He said, but smiled none the less.

He grabbed his keys and his sniper, then headed out to his car, making his way back to the pent house where the rest of the crew would be waiting.

*****

A few hours later, Ray was laying on the roof of a building across from the one that his group was going to rob. He shifted slightly, swiping a layer of gravel away and shifting his arms to rest on the newly cleared spot. He glanced down at his phone, sighing as he saw that he still had well over an hour to wait before the heist even started. Why Geoff always had them in position so early, he never knew.

He set his sniper gently to his side, taking care not to scratch it. He laid his arms on top of each other, and then his head on top of them. He stayed like that for a few minutes, taking in the sounds of the city below him as he mentally prepared for the heist.

A slight rustling sound behind him pulled him out of his head and back into the moment. He quickly grabbed the pistol he kept for close range and turned over, squinting at the approaching figure in the on-setting darkness.

Ray lowered the gun and placed his hand lightly over his heart as he recognized the figure. “Jesus Christ, Rye. You scared the shit out of me. I almost fucking shot you.”

Ryan shrugged, walking over and sitting down next to Ray on the edge of the building. His face was covered, but Ray could practically sense the smirk that almost certainly was there.

“Why are you here, anyway?” Ray said, getting over his initial shock. He leaned lightly against the older man, shifting slightly as Ryan went to grab something from his pocket. He pulled out his notebook, reminding Ray that he was Vagabond in that moment.

“ _I got bored._ ”

Ray rolled his eyes. “You know there’s this thing nowadays- it’s called texting? I’m not sure you’ve heard of it, because you’re like 9 million years old, but you can easily- Hey!” Ray complained as Ryan shoved him, interrupting his sarcastic rant.

“ _Hasn’t anyone ever told you to respect your elders?_ ”

Ray sniggered, then laid down on his back, putting them back into a comfortable silence.

The pair sat silently for a while, taking in the feeling of their bodies next to each other, and the calm before the heist.

Ray sighed as Geoff’s crackled through the com system, knowing the heist would start soon. “Okay, were about ready to begin. Everyone is in pos-” Geoff sighed loudly. “Vagabond, get your fat ass over here, now. I swear to God, if you two are off banging somewhere, I will-”

“Who’s ‘you two’?” Gavin cut in, and the sound of Michael sighing was so loud it could be heard through Gavin’s com.

“You’re fucking stupid.” Michael cut in.

Ray laughed, clicking on the mic on his com. “Relax. He’s on his way.” Ray said for Ryan, who was rolling his eyes as he stood up.

Ray sarcastically blew him a kiss and Ryan shook his head as he disappeared down the ladder.

“Why was he with you?” Gavin’s obnoxiously loud voice came in through his earpiece, and Ray flinched at the loud noise.

“That’s for me to know and you to not find out.”

Gavin’s reply was cut off as Geoff began to speak. “Right, now that everyone is where they’re supposed to be,” Ray could practically feel Geoff’s eye-roll. “Let’s get back to business. Is everyone ready?”

Everyone made noises of affirmation.

“Alright then. Let’s heist.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Sorry if this sucks, it was kind of rushed.  
> Comments/Kudos are always appreciated!  
> Have a prompt? Send it to me here, in the comments, or on my tumblr viczilla13


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, so let me start this off by saying sorry a. because keeping schedules is hard and b. because this chapter low key sucks. However, now I know where I'm going with this, and I'm super excited to keep writing (shout out to my best friend for helping me figure out where to take this).  
> So. Enjoy reading, and I hope you like this! Thank you guys so much for all the support and comments, it really helps encourage me to keep writing :)

The distinct sound of police sirens played out in the distance, most likely headed over to the other half of their crew’s location, but Ray barely noticed them. He sat on the roof, peering down through the scope on his sniper and impatiently tapping his fingers lightly against his gun. Geoff had already wandered inside the store, and was waiting for it to clear out slightly more before he started. Ray could see Vagabond leaning against the hood of his car as he impatiently fiddled with his gun in the alley attached to the store. Ray let his vision rest on the older male for a minute, until blue eyes swung up to stare at him. Ray blushed and turned away slightly, certain that even though it was almost impossible to tell, Ryan knew that Ray had been staring at him.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour but was probably just four minutes, the last person wandered out of the store. Geoff’s voice rang out almost immediately.

“Put the money in the bag, now! Don’t even think about doing anything funny, or you’ll find yourself with a new hole in your head!” The words were accentuated by an odd shuffling sound, which, presumably, was Geoff waving his gun around threateningly.

From his angle on the roof, all Ray could see was the cashiers petrified face, however that’s all he really needed. As soon as Ray heard Geoff’s satisfactory hum, he knew that the money was transferred. He quickly pulled the trigger, putting a perfect hole directly through the center of the cashier’s forehead. Geoff ran out of the store moments later, running to join Vagabond in the alley.

Ray waited a moment to do a final sweep of the area before jumping up, throwing the strap of his sniper over his shoulder before running to the ladder. He kept a hand on the pistol in his pocket, making sure that no one was there before running across the street to hop into the car next to Ryan, Geoff having taken his own car.

Geoff had already taken off towards their next location as soon as he got into the alley, knowing that any police that came would be going after him. After a quick survey of the street, Ryan peeled out of the alley and race off towards the meeting point before the cops could get there.

“Wow, this is probably the smoothest heist ever.” Ray commented, forgetting his mic was still on.

“Uh, I wouldn’t exactly say that.” Jacks labored voice came in quickly through the coms, although it was slightly hard to understand due to the sounds of a firefight happening in the background.

“Alright. How about, this is probably the smoothest heist we have ever had.” Ray said, fixing his sentence. He grinned as he saw Ryan’s shoulders shake in silent laughter, and Geoff’s loud laughter, followed by the rest of the crews, soon joined.

“Hey, kid, you’re probably not wrong.” Geoff chuckled a moment more, before the laughter died off and the mood turned serious. “Alright, everyone, remember: Clear your wanted levels, then come to the meet up place for the final stage of the heist.”

*****

The heist went surprisingly well, especially for them. The final part of the heist consisted of the crew breaking in to Fleeca Bank, in northern Los Santos. The crew managed to get in and out of the bank in under fifteen minutes, and with a minimum number of injuries. In the end, Gavin (shocking, right?) was the only one shot, and it was only a scrape across his thigh. Jack, the only other person injured (not counting Michaels bloody knuckles) had a minor cut across his forearm. The crew was ecstatic. This was one of the first heists that had happened in which there were no life threatening injuries, and they had each made a decent amount of profit.

When they got back to the penthouse, most of the crew celebrated by getting drunk on expensive liquor that they bought specifically for this occasion (or at least Geoff said, but it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he had gotten it with the intention of drinking it, with or without a successful heist), minus Ray and Vagabond. By the time that everyone else was asleep, whether that be from exhaustion or too much alcohol, the pair had run through the stories of the first Halo game and were about a third of the way through the second.

Ray swore softly as he died, sending the pair back to the last checkpoint. He paused the game and stretched, looking around at the other members of the crew who, with the exception of Vagabond, were all passed out. He glanced down at his phone, noting that it had been about twelve hours since their heist had ended, and another twelve on top of that since he had last slept. He yawned, and Ryan, who was walking back from the bathroom, glanced over at his and raised his eyebrow and grab hid notebook from where it was resting on the couch.

 Ray studied Ryan as he wrote. The gent had taken off his mask after noticing the rest of their crew would be out of the realm of the living for the next ten or so hours, but he had yet to speak, not wanting to risk the chance that one of them would wake up and see his face.

“ _Tired?_ ” Ryan wrote, flipping around the notebook so Ray could read it.

“Lil’ bit.” Ray stated nonchalantly, but his body betrayed him and he yawned again, causing Ryan to grin and laugh silently.

“ _You sure about that? Because, I don’t know, maybe yawning is something younger people do to show they are totally cool or something, but back in my day, we yawned when we were tired._ ”

Ray snorted, shaking his head. “‘Back in my day’. You say that like you are ninety years old.”

“ _Maybe I am._ ”

Ray laughed again, then did a onceover on Ryan. “Sure. I’m sure that, with that body, you are ninety years old.”

Ryan shrugged, grinning. Ray shook his head and turned back to the TV, saving his game and turning off the console. Ray turned back to Ryan, shifting over so he was leaning against the older male.

“Well, I mean, if you’re ninety, then you should probably sleep with another person in your bed. Obviously to make sure you don’t die in your sleep or something.” Ray said with a shrug.

Ryan cocked his head to the side slightly, considering, before shrugging then nodding. He stood up, pulling Ray up with him before grabbing his mask. He slipped his hand down into the lads before walking off towards the bedrooms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Comments/Kudos are always appreciated :)  
> Have a prompt? Put it here, in the comments, or drop by and shoot me an ask on tumblr.  
> viczilla13.tumblr.com


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